RCMP TARGET SUPPLIES USED IN ILLEGAL DRUGS

A new RCMP position has been created to work with local chemical importers,
hardware outlets and drug stores that are inadvertently supplying the
booming illegal manufacture of speed in the city.

Cpl. Scott Rintoul of the RCMP drug services section in Vancouver said a
coordinator of "precursors"-ingredients used to make chemical drugs like
ecstasy and methamphetamine, otherwise known as speed-will be appointed as
soon as possible.

"They will liaise with all chemical companies in B.C. talking about the
different trends in illegal drug manufacture and what chemicals are being
used to produce certain drugs," he said.

Rintoul noted that anyone wanting to make speed can get all the ingredients
legally from stores like London Drugs, Canadian Tire, Revy and Home Depot,
and no chemistry background is necessary.

Manufacturers of the drug first remove ephedrine or pseudoephedrine from
over-the-counter cold and allergy tablets. Using common household products
and a recipe learned from friends or taken off the Internet, they then
convert the chemicals into speed.

The illegal process creates hydrogen chloride gas as well as other fumes
that are extremely dangerous. For every pound of drug produced, there are
five pounds of toxic waste.

Rintoul said speed use is soaring among ravers and certain sub-cultures in
the city's West End. Last year, Mounties busted 30 drug laboratories, or
"cookhouses," in the Lower Mainland, compared with 15 in 1998. Speed is
being sold as ecstasy at raves and starting to replace crack as the drug of
choice in the Downtown Eastside.

Rintoul said small-time speed manufacturers steal their ingredients from
stores, but larger operations get ephedrine through chemical importers that
bring the product in from China.

The new RCMP precursor coordinator in Vancouver, who will be matched by
officers in Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, will monitor all
ephedrine coming into the city.

"Instead of looking at the bad guys, we are looking at what's coming in
legally. We need to get the word out to chemical companies that there are
unscrupulous people who purchase this stuff, pretending to be legal when in
fact they are fronts for organized crime," Rintoul said. "Most of these
guys are pretty creative, portraying themselves as legitimate people
requiring these chemicals."